WORD 2day: 29th October, 2014

To be saved...any shortcuts?

Eph 6: 1-9; Lk 13: 22-30

Will only  few be saved? Who will be saved and who will not be? Will so and so be saved? These are questions we hear more often than not. Jesus not even once when he was asked, answered these questions direct. He always gave an explanation that made them think more and think of something else! Once he said the parable of the camel and the eye of the needle and another time he explained to them that it is possible with God, and impossible with merely human effort. However today, he says there are no categories of people who would enter, neither are there selected races who would enter! Anyone can enter and everyone is invited to enter the Reign of God, provided they had the right disposition and the right life style!

St. Paul in the first reading explains what this disposition or life style has to be. It is nothing but living our life wherever we are, in a manner that is pleasing to God. It is easy to blame the others or the situation for a life lived below the standard that is expected of us and the Lord today challenges us to 'strive to go through the narrow door'...that is the door that leads to the Reign! In Paul's words, we are called to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:!2); it is not about fretting and fidgeting but about being diligent and dedicated in whatever we are called to be, wherever we are!